romney. thank you so much. again, i am alex wagner in for lawrence o'donnell. tomorrow at noon, senator barbara boxer will join me to talk about what is at take in this election. up next, a special edition of "hardball." chris matthews interviews vice president joe biden. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in cleveland. let me start with this. the close nest of this election tells you something about our country, how divided it. as you look at rockefeller center in new york, consider the national polling. the north, midwest and west back obama. the south is with romney, or is

against obama. you can see this division as it works its way down from southwest pennsylvania, including part of ohio, down through west virginia. you see it in the agitation that romney and his forces are working in their ads and speeches. donald trump, who says is president is an illegal immigrant, now doing robocalls for romney. john sununu keeps calling the president lazy and un-american. and topping it off, we heard romney out here in ohio today saying the president is bent on, get this, revenge. let's begin tonight with my interview with vice president biden. i started with that high octane issue of auto production right here in ohio. >> thank you, mr. vice president, for this time. here we are in ohio. what do you make of this republican ad that's been out there running for romney saying

that chrysler is going to take jeep out of this state and send it to china? >> here are the people right in this state, toledo and other places, just back up on their feet, jeep is hiring people and they put out an ad saying that barack obama sent chrysler bankrupt so the italians could buy it. and it's just flat false. the most cynical play i've seen. there was an editorial in the "denver post" saying this goes to character. >> what does it say about romney's character? >> it says they don't have much character at all and the idea that these guys -- look, chris, they're running away from everything. on that debate, i thought romney was going to endorse obama.

now they're running away from the ryan budget, which is what they were going to herald as the second coming. it really is kind of scurrilous. these people are finally back on their feet. there's no chance their job is going to go to china. >> even when the fact checkers come out and check them and objectively say these ads are wrong, what do you think the campaign says, run it any way? >> when we were doing this -- i think they think that if they spent a couple million bucks or $20 million bucks around the country on these ads that that will swamp free press. >> so in other words, all the fact checking in the world can't catch up. >> that's in their thinking.

>> the president was up there with governor christie. what does it tell you that we don't see that coolness under fire? >> by the way, it is cool. look at what this guy came into office with. look what he inherited and he's steady. literally, i've never once seen this guy falter. i've never -- he's never once in my presence said joe, what do you think the politics of this are? he makes a judgment, he listens. he cuts through all the mularkey. and now that he's mastered the bureaucracy, now he's talking with homeland security and the rest and one of the principals

says, do you want us working with con ed? we usually don't do this? he says to leon, the secretary of defense, can you get generators in to con ed? let's get this up and running. he just cuts through. he makes a decision and he stands by what he does. in contrast to governor romney, you never know where he is. this guy makes a decision, chris. as i said it before, he has a backbone like a ramrod. he stands by what he says, and he lives by it. >> the way he chose to go after bin laden, the decision to rescue the auto industry. when he makes those decisions, everybody else sees cool on the outside. what can you see? >> i see a guy who starts off

and the questions he asks are about how this can affect real people. not a joke. it's all straight. here's the deal. on the automobile rescue, he said, how can you let an iconic industry go under? what does that say about the country? there's a million people going to lose their jobs. so the question was, he didn't think it was better, but how could you not take the chance? >> bipartisan got a huge applause here. you got real close to a deal last year with john boehner. if you get re-elected, how do you get back to making it work, like it did up here in the storm country of jersey, where everybody seemed to be working together? >> i think the fever will have broken.

you have the tea party wing controlling the party. i said this before, we need a republican party. we need leaders that can control their party and i think you're going to see the fever break. you're going to see obama's re-elected, the idea we can't let that happen is done. i've already been talking -- >> the reasonable people that we grew up with, they left, they're gone. they passed away. >> but there's still some solid republican conservatives who understand what principled conservative means and they're not wrapped up in idealogical purity. i think there's a dozen republican senators, and i think i can name 2 1/2, 3 dozen house members who, once this election

is over, they get a get out of jail free card. up to now, it's been if you don't stick with this hard right edge thing, we're going to primary you. you saw it when jerry falwell took control of the republican party. you saw it when newt gingrich first came in. mark my words, when this is all over, we both understand politics, all those house and senate members, they're going to start saying hey, man, i no longer have an obligation to stick with the right of my party to say we're going to defeat this guy. he's there four more years, let's get something done. i really believe you'll see movement. >> the election is in hours from

now. nobody knows what is going to happen. you had finegan here, your granddaughter. take a minute and explain the history of this election, what it is going to mean in going one direction or the other, what is the big stake here? >> she's asked the question. the big stake is whether or not we decide that there are a few people, powerful people, good people, but powerful people, economically, politically in every other way who are the ones enlightened to make the decisions about the country. or do you have any faith in the people that we grew up with? i really mean it. that is the fundamental difference. they don't think education -- it's an afterthought to them. the middle class is built on education and the country is built on ingenuity. they really don't think that's necessary. they really think they are side

issues. they think as long as you give massive tax cuts to the wealthy, that will generate an environment which -- look, it's how they are about offshoring and all those issues. they look at it, when you talk to them privately, it's a global economy, so it doesn't matter where you make money, as long as your shareholders do well, everything will work. look, we have stake holders that live in north philadelphia and out here in cleveland. it matters where you grow the economy. it matters whether you grow it here in cleveland and ohio. it matters whether people are able to have access to a college education. it's the stuff of which this country is built. >> last question, how close is it going to be on tuesday night? >> look, i don't want to jinx myself. >> then don't. what do you think is going to happen? >> i think we're going to win.

i don't think it's going to be close in the electoral college. i think we're going to win clearly and i think we're going to win this state, ohio. i've been in here 23, 24 days, i think we're going to win iowa, wisconsin, nevada, new hampshire. i think we've got an even chance of winning virginia and florida. so it could be a big win. it also could be close. but the firewall here of ohio, wisconsin, iowa -- >> talk to your stake holders. tell them what they should do on tuesday. >> if you can vote early, vote earlier. but don't just vote, bring your mom, your dad, bring your cousin, knock on the door of your neighbor. the middle depends on it. >> vice president joe biden, thank you for your time. good luck. north carolina and colorado look pretty tough.

coming up, where does the race stand? we have the results of the latest and last poll before the election. that's next. and we have our top people here tonight. chuck todd, howard fineman, eugene robinson and others. the big question is about big bill. if president obama does win re-election tuesday night, the person he can thank the most perhaps probably is the guy he was campaigning with in new hampshire, bill clinton, the big dog could be the one who pulls him over the finish line. and guess who on the romney team is bad mouthing chris christie? let me finish with who is the best bet to bring us together after wrards. this is "hardball." the place for politics. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... as an american express cardmember

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in pennsylvania, ppp shows the president with a six-point lead. and in new hampshire, where the poll has the race tied even. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] you've reached the age where you don't back down from a challenge. this is the age of knowing how to make things happen. so, why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss

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welcome back to "hardball." we've got the results of the latest and last poll. the president has a bare edge, just 48% to 47%. also today, new numbers from the battle ground states shows the race at a dead heat at 48% even. with the race razor sharp right now, both candidates were in the

battleground states today. the president in new hampshire, florida, ohio and colorado. and romney in iowa, ohio, pennsylvania and virginia. here's part of their closing arguments of both candidates. >> what makes this rally and all your work that much more inspiring is you're doing it because you care about america. i mean, paul and i have not promised you a bigger check from the government and we haven't promised to check from some people to redistribute to you. >> it's not just a choice between two candidates or two parties, it's a choice between two different visions for america. between a return to the top down policies that crashed our economy and an economy that's built from the middle out and the bottom up and creates a strong growing middle class. >> where does the race stand right now?

chuck, and then howard, give us your assessments how this race stands just a few hours away? >> it feels here -- look, the campaign is a campaign of demographi demographics versus enthusiasm. the romney campaign believes enthusiasm is on their side and will make up some ground. the obama campaign, they believe that the basic structure of the -- of these states favors them. that you're going to have a white-to nonwhite election and there is struimpossible for mit

romney to get a majority. in the last 72 hours, it feels as if, and our polling may have caught it, that there is -- this the president caught the last break. you can say it's sandy, but he caught the last break and if there is anybody with a little bit of an advantage, it appears he has it >> howard? >> before i came on the air, i checked in with the top guns in both campaigns. my sense is trying to read between the lines of the e-mails. the obama people are a little more confident right now. the romney people keep harping on pennsylvania, on the idea if they can't win ohio's 18 electoral votes they can substitute it with 20 from pennsylvania. i've been told that the president is not going to pennsylvania but bill clinton will be in pennsylvania tomorrow.

the obama people are confident enough about the flanks maneuver that romney is trying in pennsylvania not to bother sending the president there. the president will be in ohio tomorrow, which is his center of gravity and has been from the beginning. that's the electoral college reason, because without ohio and pennsylvania, it's virtually impossible for romney to get it done. >> i can give you the same reporting. they don't want it to look like romney has something going in pennsylvania. >> if it were really that close, chris, they would send him. >> let's take a look at this article. it was a very well written article and got nothing but anger from white people.

>> we got the word from michael, i think it was you, howard, how angry the readers were because he suggested there was a lot of anti-black, if you will, racist sort of argument going on. i believe there's been a lot of it around the edges. i think romney has been responsible for it, but today he said obama's campaign is about revenge. your thoughts? >> not to mention the line that he used we did a clip of about handing out checks. the handing out checks is an old mean going back to the days of ronald reagan and before that. even back to the '70s.

so i think that what interested me was that michael told me just what a storm of hatred his own column unleashed today, which is very interesting. i think what's going on, on the fringes of the republican side and you can see it from the polling, there's more intensity on the republican side. not as many strong supporters of romney as obama, but those who are for romney are very strong. but the irony is they're strong for him not because they like him, they're strong for mitt romney because they intensely dislike the president. >> the fact that the north, the west, the midwest all support obama but the south intensely dislikes him. >> that's why the national poll numbers are as close as it is, because barack obama is through the floor in the south. and it could end up that the south will be solid once again.

it goes back to the civil war and slavery and still there. >> let many ask chuck, could it be that the president, knowing that he would never get electoral votes in the south, spend little time in the last four years cultivating a strong minority support among white voters? >> i guess i take issue he didn't do it. he spent a lot of time in north carolina and florida. i am surprised he didn't spend more time in the state of georgia, a state that is under certain scenarios, all of the growth when you look at the census, the african-american and hispanic growth in the state of georgia. there's a lot of things he could have done differently, when it comes to building different and better coalitions in washington, finding his own versions of moderate republicans to come

with him. the question is, did he learn lessons if he wins a second term? and maybe are there better ways of building coalitions outside of washington, trying to go to certain places and certain states and trying to overperform in certain states. >> if he wins on tuesday night, he was able to get support because of things he did, killing bin laden, helping out hispanic kids brought to this country at an early age, these are things he did, the thing he did with governor christie the other day, these are actual doing things. >> i think the lesson is, if he wins one of the top two or three factors will be the auto rescue. that is key to ohio. if he keeps ohio, it's because of the automobiles and the fact

that you can see automobiles on the street. you can see chrysler and dodge cars on the street. that's tangible and that is probably his best piece of tangible legislation. >> the one thing that you're getting at here, chris, what smir conish found out the hard way, the losing side is going to feel very aggrieved. this is not going to be like 2000 or 2004, which ever side feels like they loses, they're going to feel like it was taken from them. they're not going to believe the result they saw. that's going to make governing for the winner extraordinarily difficult. >> i agree with you. thank you very much, chuck todd. thanks for coming on. next, will farrell says he'll do anything to get you to vote. anything. >> if you agree to vote in this year's election, i will personally give you a tattoo.

fair warning, i do not know how to draw. and this is a picture of rockefeller plaza in new york. it's been transformed into democracy plaza. this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ male announcer ] behold the joy, bliss and total delight that can only come from having someone else pay your mortgage for an entire year... this is what you'll experience if you win the quicken loans skip-a-year mortgage sweepstakes. up to five winners will get to skip a year of mortgage payments... courtesy of quicken loans. enter often at skipayear.com for more chances to experience...this... the skip-a-year mortgage sweepstakes. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze!

back to "hardball." and this is the "sideshow." both mitt romney and president obama are using the last two days of campaigning to make a final pitch to voters in the states that could decide it. let's look at the sights and sounds of today. >> hello, new hampshire! >> thank you so much. >> i know some of you came here early and it's getting a little cold. but folks from new hampshire are tough.

we made real progress, florida, these past four years. >> you've watched what happened over the last four years with an independent voice. you hoped that president obama would live up to his promise to bring people together to solve big problems. but he hasn't. and i will. >> the american auto industry is back on top. home values are on the rise. al qaeda is on the run. osama bin laden is dead. >> the choice of the american people can lead to one of two very different destinations. >> here is your choice. you've got ideas that we've tried and didn't work. and you have ideas that we tried that did work. so you think it would be a clear choice. >> paul ryan and i will limit government instead of limiting the dreams of our fellow americans. >> our fight goes on because america does best when everybody has a fair shot. >> do you want four more years like the last four years or do you want real change? >> change comes when we live up to this country's legacy of

innovation. >> two days, two days and we got to work. >> new hampshire, in two days. >> florida, in two days. you've got a choice to make. >> i need your vote and your help. >> are you fired up! >> don't you love the way that romney runs as if he's the american candidate for president? i just love that. next, it's bill maher with the reasons he's starting to see the finish coming. >> i know it has to end, i just don't want it to. only four days left in this campaign means there's only time for five more reincarnations of mitt romney. 2012 >> when future historians ask, mitt romney, how did we get this shameless weather vane?

the answer will be, the other choices were newt gingrich. so they nominated mitt romney. >> you heard maher joking that romney is so out of touch he's from outer space. check out this tweet. and actor will farrell stepped up his campaign for obama in a new web video with a list of questionable incentives to encourage people to vote. >> if you agree to vote in this year's election i will personally give you a tattoo. fair warning, i do not know how to draw. i'll do a dance just for you. that was just a taste.

if you want the full buffet, you're going to have to vote. if you vote, i'll eat anything you tell me to. garbage, hair, human under pants, i don't care. vote obama. it's a slam dunk. i made you this. it's an owl. who, who. >> convinced? up next, clinton the closer. if president obama wins on tuesday night, he can thank former president bill clinton. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

he's been a good commander in chief, a good decider in

chief, a proven cooperator. because you and our country will be better off, i strongly recommend we re-elect the next president of the united states, the current president of the united states, our president, barack obama! >> welcome back to "hardball." the president and the former president campaigning together. president obama made note of the power of the former president and his secretary of state hillary clinton today. >> let me just say president clinton has been traveling all across the country for this campaign. he has been breaking it down so well that people tell me i should ask him to be secretary of explaining stuff. the only clinton working harder

than him is our secretary of state, hillary clinton! >> joan walsh is author of "what's the matter with white people?" by the way, to remind everybody david did uncover that 47% video. first of all, joan, when i hear bill clinton, i hear strains of wendell wellky losing his voice in that 1940 race. but here you have bill clinton out there today basically adding something. he does something when he shows up with obama. it seems like it's more than one or two, it's like maybe a five. >> they're larger than the sum of their parts. i was just looking at that video of president clinton, chris, and

i thought he looks younger. younger than he looked in a long time and it's the 20-year anniversary of that amazing '92 campaign where he closed it out barn storming and he was losing his voice. i think president clinton sees barack obama has the completion of his legacy. we know that there was tension between them and tension between president obama and hillary clinton. but they're all come together. whatever happens with hillary clinton in the future, i think the president understands that this president needs to get re-elected to vindicate -- i think the economy is going to get better no matter who is president. >> i think that 47% video put the clintons and the obamas on the same side of that divide. sltz i think you're right. it's who you're fighting for and speaking to. i watched bill clinton today in

new hampshire and i thought, god, the guy still has it. a dozen years after he was impeached for lying about sex, he is a rock star. and that's why tomorrow, tomorrow the obama campaign is sending him to four stops in pennsylvania. he's like the ace reliever you put in the ninth inning to shut down the other side if you think they may score some runs late in the game. four events in one day is not an easy thing to do, but he looks raring to go. >> let's talk about the unity of the party. here you have a democratic party, president obama and president clinton were campaigning together yesterday in virginia. clinton gave it all. listen to this.

>> as you can see, i have given my voice this the service of my president. >> the wonderful praise, because i think i've been using it myself, is president obama a good president? not decent president, not great president, not whatever, not even excellent, but is he a good president? and if he is a good president, consider that when you vote. and bill clinton used that phrase today. >> yes. and he also said in the service of my president. i thought that was very moving, chris. the way that this president has been demonized and made not american and put outside the pail of politics and the way that the republican party which impeached bill clinton, has embraced bill clinton, the

president putting his arms around -- president clinton putting his arms around president obama literally and figuratively, is so troublesome with that white working class vote. >> how far back -- i guess harry truman they liked. >> they liked kennedy's tax cuts. they never talk about lbj much. they thought carter was illegitimate. and they thought bill clinton was completely illegitimate until this campaign. but bill clinton comes out there and to take joan's point and he says not just that he's my president, he's our president. coming from another president who has made hard decisions and it's really putting the stamp of legit maty back on a guy who shouldn't have to fight for it but has had to because of

republican obstructionism. >> let's listen to romney talking about the president out for revenge. it never ends. and romney again today, he's running as if he's like america's team, like the dallas cowboys. like he's the american candidate. who gave him that? >> and we've got people on the right saying there are threats of race riots if president obama loses, which is disgusting. glenn beck and rush limbaugh claim that health care is reparations. i think that revenge remark feeds right into that. look at what they're going to do to us. >> it's been a continuation from day one. mitt romney has gone out there and said that barack obama doesn't understand america. he doesn't get america. he's not one of us. ann romney has repeatedly said barack obama is not a grownup.

you talked about john sununu saying he was lazy, he didn't understand america. it's not even code anymore. it's this guy is not a real american. newt gingrich can say he's an african in terms of his temperament and ideas. it's all part of this continuum that mitt romney has not said no to. >> read michael smerconish's column today. it is brilliantly written. up next, we're learning that governor chris christie was possibly ticked off by being strung along for being mitt romney's running mate.

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welcome back to "hardball" in a report that the philadelphia enquire says campay chris christie who felt jilted after having been led to believe he would be selected as romney's vp before being ditched. of course the implication is that christie's dark motive is in having to be so publicly supporting the president, president obama, is that romney hurt his feelings. gene, i don't know, i just find one part of this thing buzzeling. why would romney people, put out the word two days or three days before an election that reason governor christie was so helpful with obama and working with him is because he thought he had been almost promised the vp job and was hurt by not getting it in favor of paul ryan? why would they put that out? >> a dig at christie and i think

it speaks a lack of character frankly. they are painting christie as some sort of, you know, jilted psycho girlfriend or boyfriend, who, you know, got left at the alter and who, you know, and that's why he is running to the arms of the other guy. it is incredible that they would do this now. against a republican governor who gave the keynote speech. a crisis in the state. i think they would be a bit more supportive. >> you know, i was thinking of miss haversham, the lady left at alter and 30 years later sitting at the kitchen table with her wedding kaip cacake molding in f her. is this the jilted old lady who never got over being jilted by her lover? >> don't know if it is about that. >> come on, you know it is. >> it is political ignorance.

i today deal with the nameless shadowy voices who undermine you because they don't like the direction you are takinging the party or whatever. same tone deaf people that don't understand chris christie is governor of a state devastated by a storm. he is going to flip the bird to the president and say, is a political season? and say, screw you until after the election? i think this undermines that this is bubbled up to be news. undermines romney's momentum and effort as a distraction. chris christie doesn't need it. certainly the romney campaign doesn't need it. i think this is a bone-headed conversation -- >> that's why i'm bringing it up. >> i know. >> i like bone-headed because it gives me a chance to teach people how bone-headed people can be. can this be an excuse for people who might lose the election to blame it on christie? >> absolutely.

>> absolutely. >> oh, absolutely. >> you make it too easy on me, guys. chris christie defended praise of president obama. let's listen to the governor. >> i don't understand why telling the president of the united states that he has done a good job, when he's done a good job, equals and endorse many. so the fact of the matter is, and mitt romney knows this, and by the way, so does the president of the united states. i endorsed mitt romney 13 months ago because i thought he was the best guy for the job. and on tuesday, i will vote for mitt romney because i think he is the best guy for the job. >> very sharp, michael and gene. haley barber explaining the behavior of the governor in mple terms. >> the relationship between the president, whether it is president obama or romney, has just begun. it will go on for years and years. the easy stuff is what we are dealing with now. the complicated decisions, federal government, christie would have been a fool to poke

his finger in obama's eye. when they are your partner for years, you know, you are praised in public and criticize in private. that's what ways taught. >> michael, that's what you said. >> right. and the fact that they are criticizing publicly speaks how bone-headed and ignorant they are. it is outing an agenda, giving cover in case the election doesn't turn out, they can look at christie and say, you stopped the governor's momentum and all this praise. so disconnected from reality. look, the governor is doing what the governor needs to do. governor haley is absolutely right. i know we had it deal with hurricanes and blizzards in lair land. we looked to the federal government and our partners around the country who could lep us. that's what christie did, god blo bless /* bless him. >> michael, i agree with you, once again. who is the best bet to bring us together after the tuesday

elections? you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

let me finish tonight with this. i sat in a big high school gym and saw bipartisanship. asaw a movie about how the united states and canada conspired together to save six iranians back in '79 and watched the audience cheer at the top of their lungs at the end of the

movie. the country wants it feel good about itself and believes somehow the key is to end the roadblock that stands in the way of moving forward. now mitt romney says he is most likely to clear that roadblock because he can work best with the die hard right in the house republican caucus. he can get republicans and congress to work with him in finding a compromise with democrats. he can. what would make anyone think that? he spent the primaries, caucuses, and national convention in tampa buckling to every demand of the right. he went down for everyone who made a demand on him. signed every document. sold to sellers of political patronage. we could barely see himself, the person, only the hand signing signatures. reading back oaths, the donald trumps berthers, and anyone else who said, sign here, if they want it that bad. this country hates the word compromise. that what last year's credit rating was all about. demes are ready